The Pacific in California: Objects from a collection

“Pacific” was the key term in the name of San Francisco's Panama Pacific International Exposition. The fair presented a vision of an increasingly unified Pacific region under the control of American economic and political power. Of course, California had been part of a coherent Pacific region for hundreds of years. Facing the Pacific was a key orientation for both the fair’s organizers and visitors. This article accompanies a portfolio of objects from the collections of the Oakland Museum of California